He's Serious About Senate

Norment Has Managed To Position Himself Well As State's Floor Leader

RICHMOND — Stepping on toes is nothing new for James City County attorney Thomas K. Norment Jr.

Norment, 52, the Republican floor leader of the state Senate, remembers his third year at Virginia Military Institute, when he tried to take over as president of his class.

Tradition dictated the election of a single class president for the full four years, and Norment lost his bid. But he did get a consolation prize out of the attempt: a leadership role created just for him called liaison officer.

"I guess I tilted the windmills a bit," he said.

Or, as VMI pal Chips McCallum of Virginia Beach put it: "It was unusual. VMI was a conservative place, but Tommy was a force."

Save the spectacles, flannel suits and timepiece, some things haven't changed much for Norment.

The seven-year Senate veteran is known for his aggressive, even combative, brand of ambition in Richmond - and for having stumbled a few times when he has gotten ahead of himself.

But even when he has fallen short, Norment has emerged as an insider, willing to play by most rules. And now more than ever, nearing the end of his second term in the Senate, Norment's mix of cheek and team spirit is paying off.

"He's certainly positioned himself," said one senior lawmaker. "And it's not out of step to do what he did. It's what you've got to do. Anybody who comes to power does exactly the same thing."

Over roughly the last year, Norment has become one the most influential members of the state Senate. He has ascended to the highly visible, if not entirely glamorous, job of Republican floor leader, with the principal tasks of moving the Senate through the session calendar each day and policing errant colleagues who stray from the chamber's strict parliamentary rules.

Norment also has joined two of the most powerful legislative panels in Richmond: the Crime Commission, which addresses such high-interest topics as sex-offender registries and the war on drugs; and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, which, as the investigative arm of the legislature, looks into just about anything in state government the General Assembly tells it to.

And for the last three years, Norment has been a member of the panel whose blueprint on deregulating the electric utilities industry is near passage in the General Assembly. He also is likely to wind up on a new utilities commission designed to oversee the newly competitive market.

Finally, Norment sits on two of the more influential committees in the Senate: Courts of Justice, which considers all criminal legislation as well as judicial appointments, and Commerce and Labor.

"I've done nothing, and I've headed nowhere," Norment said in mock humility. More seriously, the senator added: "It has been a good year - there is no question about that."

About the only hole in the James Blair High School graduate's political resume right now is the prestigious Senate Finance Committee. But Norment is working even on that - and several senators say he is very likely to be the next Republican appointee to the committee. It's an appointment that could happen as early as next year, depending upon the outcome of November's crucial legislative elections.

"I would certainly advocate that any opening go to Tommy," said state Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, a close political associate of Norment's and his seatmate on the floor of the Senate.

If Norment's rise within the Senate has been relatively quick, it has not been without its growing pains. The Republican has shown a knack for picking battles with influential rivals - and for leaving their feathers slightly ruffled. But he has emerged from such skirmishes largely unfazed, his confidence hardly damaged at all.

"Back me into a corner and I will fight you like a junkyard dog," Norment said with typical swagger. It's the same swagger that prompted the diminutive attorney to buy a Harley Davidson last November, just months after he broke his collarbone, five ribs and three fingers in a bicycling accident near his Kingsmill home.

And it's the same swagger that has pushed him twice since Republicans first gained parity with Democrats four years ago to seek a more sweeping job - Republican caucus leader - than the one he ultimately landed.

"I am not uppity," Norment said. "I'm also not the brightest of the 140. But my political intuition is good. I have a lot of confidence in myself."

In his leadership bid, Norment pitched that it was time for a new generation of young Republicans to lead. The older generation had known political life only in the minority; now that Republicans shared power, more "agile" forces were needed, he argued.

But Norment lost the battle both times; last year, it was to Sen. Walter A. Stosch, R-Henrico - someone Norment at the time considered a subscriber to the "old" way of thinking. But while Stosch prevailed with the support of some of the more senior Republicans, he also earned the backing of the younger crowd by agreeing to split up the caucus duties.